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Joya de Nicaragua Celebracion Consul

The Joya de Nicaragua of the 90's was a decent but fairly innocuous cigar. But back then it seemed like anyone would smoke anything that had a cigar label on it. After the last echoes of the "boom" faded away, serious cigar smokers became more discriminating. To satisfy this growing crowd of tobacco cognoscenti Joya de Nicaragua introduced the Antaño 1970 series, a powerhouse extra-full bodied cigar that blew everyone's socks off.

But not everyone wants a bunker buster like the Antaño, and most cigar smokers don't want a super powerful cigar every time they light one up. To temper the power of the Antaño the makers of Joya de Nicaragua went to a master of mild yet flavorful cigars: Manuel Quesada of MATASA. Quesada lightened up the ligero and came up with a more serene blend of tobaccos for the Celebracion.

Made in Esteli, Nicaragua by Tabacos Puros de Nicaragua, the oldest cigar company in Central America, the Celebracion is a Nicaraguan puro (as is the Antaño) with a havana seed criollo wrapper.

It's a bit short for a robusto at 4 1/2 inches, but a bit fatter as well with a 52 ring gauge. The wrapper is a leathery looking colorado maduro. The stick is a little bumpy and the cap is rough.

The construction on this stout fellow is very good. It burns just a mite unevenly, but corrects itself. The draw is spot on.

The primary flavor is wood, with some sweet highlights. It's definitely a milder cigar than its big brother, but still not a lightweight. I'd say it's medium to almost full. It gathers some strength in the home stretch, but doesn't quite reach a solid full body. Toward the end what it lacks in strength it makes up for with a peppery finish.

It reminds me of a CAO Criollo, more than anything, but I'd have to give the CAO an edge for a slightly more refined flavor. The Celebracion Consul is nevertheless a very good cigar. At less than five USD in the B&M it's a pretty good value as well.

By comparison to the Antano it’s mild, but I wouldn’t consider the Celebracion in and of itself a mild cigar. It’s got all the characteristics of a good Nicaraguan cigar, and it’s a fine one at that. The problem, in my opinion, is that for some reason the Antano is the standard by which the Celebracion is measured, and that’s unfair. So you’re not crazy, Jerry, and don’t let anyone tell you so.

There’s a macho ethos about strong cigars that overshadows high quality medium and mild bodied smokes. Meanwhile the silent majority is smoking Puros Indios and Macanudo. I’ve never understood that.

I think the Celebracion is a straight ahead good cigar fit for any occasion you choose. It’s not a dog walker, or a yard gar. It’s a cigar to be appreciated, even if I didn’t think it was the king of medium cigars. (The king, I think, is the Ashton Puro Sol. At least for now. Kings are frequently deposed in the subjective world of cigar opinion.)